Lucy Gwynne Branham (April 29, 1892 – July 18, 1966) was an American suffragist associated with the National Women's Party.

Education

She earned degrees in history from Washington College in Maryland, and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

(Master's degree).

Career

While teaching in Florida, she received a Carnegie Medal for saving Dema T. Nelson from drowning in the ocean in 1915. She began work on a Ph.D. at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

under

Charles A. Beard Charles Austin Beard (1874–1948) was an American historian and professor, who wrote primarily during the first half of the 20th century. A history professor at Columbia University, Beard's influence is primarily due to his publications in the f ...

, but, in the words of historian Julia L. Mickenberg, Branham "turned from academia to activism, becoming a field organizer for the NWP". Historian Katherine A. S. Siegel notes that, "In 1916, Branham put her studies aside to begin work in the National Woman's Party." Siegel writes that Branham "worked tirelessly for suffrage and, when she could, on the readings Beard assigned her," and she began teaching history in Columbia's adult extension program in the fall of 1920, but she left within a year to go to Russia as a representative of the ''New York Herald'' - Armand Hammer described her as the "suffragette history professor." Although the dissertation she was working on ("The History of Labor and Politics in New York") was listed as being "in progress" with an expected completion date of 1922, Columbia University "has no record that Branham ever finished her Ph.D." Her Johns Hopkins master's thesis ("An Outline of the Political History of Georgia, During the Revolutionary War") is the ''only'' thesis or dissertation listed under her name in WorldCat, so Branham must have been ABD and never finished her doctorate, concentrating on activism rather than academe. In 1916, she was a National Women's Party organizer in Utah, and in September of the following year she was arrested for picketing the White House as part of the Silent Sentinels, a NWP campaign for women's suffrage, for which she served two months in the

Occoquan Workhouse The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in Lorton, Virginia, established in 1910 for the District of Columbia, United States. The complex began as a prison farm called the Occoquan Wor ...

and the District jail.

In 1918, Branham lobbied in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama for a federal amendment in the Senate that would legalize women's suffrage. She traveled around America speaking of her experiences in prison as part of the NWP's "

Prison Special The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment. In Feb ...

" tour of 1919. Also in 1919, Branham burned a letter from President Woodrow Wilson in Lafayette Square to protest for women's suffrage. After

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

was obtained in 1920, she led the

Inez Milholland Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American suffragist, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar, she campaigned aggressively for women’s rights as the principal issue of a wide ...

Memorial Fund Committee, which created an ongoing endowment fund for the NWP. Branham worked for Russian relief with the American Women's Emergency Committee, and lobbied Congress against the Allied blockade of Russia; worked with the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

; served as field secretary for Russian Reconstruction Farms; headed the Women's Committee for the Recognition of Russia, which was under the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; and was executive secretary of the American Society for Cultural Relations with Russia.Mickenberg, 1039-1040, note 41. She also worked with the World Woman's Party in Geneva and lobbied the League of Nations on equal rights issues. In the late 1950s she lived at Sewall–Belmont House and served on the NWP's Congressional Committee to lobby for the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

. Branham's mother, Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham, was also a suffragist, and was arrested for her part in the watch fire demonstrations in January 1919 and served three days in the District jail.

References

External links

*
Photos of Lucy Branham
from the Library of Congress * {{DEFAULTSORT:Branham, Lucy Gwynne 1892 births 1966 deaths American suffragists Washington College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Columbia University alumni Recipients of the Carnegie Medal (Carnegie Hero Fund) Place of death missing National Woman's Party activists

Education

Career

See also

References

External links